Fashion pulse: South Korea - March 2026

Consumer prices (March 2026)

Consumer prices (March 2026) Clothing and footwear prices in South Korea rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in March, according to Statistics Korea (data accessed via the Bank of Korea ECOS API), essentially matching the +2.2 percent headline inflation reading. Within the fashion basket, clothing prices rose 2.5 percent — with menswear at +1.6 percent and womenswear at +2.3 percent — while footwear prices were essentially unchanged at near-zero percent year-on-year. Korean shoe prices have now been effectively frozen for twelve consecutive months. Headline inflation ticked up to +2.2 percent in March from +2.0 percent in February, breaching the Bank of Korea’s 2 percent target and reaching the highest reading since December. Transport prices (+5.0 percent, from +1.1 percent in February) and housing (+1.5 percent) drove the rise; clothing and food moved in the opposite direction, with food inflation at +0.5 percent — the mildest reading since February 2020.

Retail sales (February 2026 — latest available)

Korean retail sales grew 4.70 percent year-on-year in February, according to Statistics Korea — a sharp acceleration from the near-zero January YoY print (revised estimates place January at approximately +0.1 percent year-on-year). The February surge reflects post-Seollal consumer spending — the 2026 Lunar New Year fell on 17 February, pulling seasonal spending into the reference month. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail was flat at 0.0 percent in February, following a strong January MoM gain (+2.3 percent per revised Statistics Korea figures). Korea’s monthly retail sales index does not separately break out clothing retailers, so fashion-specific retail growth requires KOSIS detail (accessible via a registered Statistics Korea key).

Consumer confidence

Korean consumer sentiment dropped sharply in March. The Bank of Korea’s Composite Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 107.0 from 112.1 in February — a 5.1-point decline that mirrors consumer-confidence collapses seen across Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland in the same month, and the weakest reading since May 2025 (a 10-month low). Within the survey, the current economic situation sub-index fell 9 points to 86, and the economic outlook sub-index fell 13 points to 89 — both clearly in pessimistic territory (below the 100 threshold). Major news wires (Bloomberg, Korea Times, Korea Pro) cited the Middle East conflict and Iran-related oil-price risks as the primary driver, layered on Korea-specific headwinds (political uncertainty, won weakness).

Monetary policy and currency

The Bank of Korea has held the Base Rate at 2.50 percent since May 2025, completing a 100-basis-point cutting cycle from the 3.50 percent January 2023 peak across four meetings (October 2024 to May 2025). The Korean won weakened 2.95 percent against the US dollar in March, with the BIS monthly mean moving from 1,448 won per dollar in February to 1,491 won — among the steepest monthly FX moves of any Tier 1 country in the Fashion pulse series this March.

Note: this article combines the most recent official data available at the time of writing. Reporting lags differ by indicator and country, so not all figures refer to the same month. Each data point is labelled with its reference period.